Elbow immobilizer for use on male and female patients



April 22, 1969 A. SPRECHER 3,439,673

ELBOW IMMOBILIZER FOR USE ON MALE AND FEMALE PATIENTS Filed July 26.1966 Sheet of 2 f 7 l8 l6 I0 22 36 70 I 33 20 INVENTOR CARL A. .SPRECHE/1 ATTORNEY-5 April 22, 1969 I c, A. SPR-ECHER 3,439,673

ELBOW IMMOBILIZER FOR USE ON MALE AND FEMALE PATIENTS Filed July 26.1966 Sheet .2 of 2 FIG? INVENTOR CARL 14. SPRECHB? BY who flak ATTORNEYUnited States Patent Office 3,439,673 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 3,439,673ELBOW IMMOBILIZER FOR USE ON MALE AND FEMALE PATIENTS Carl A. Sprecher,Lebanon, Pa., assignor to Lebanon Machine & Manufacturing Co., Inc.,Lebanon, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 26, 1966, Ser.No. 567,893 Int. Cl. A61f 5/37, 5/04; A61d 3/00 US. Cl. 128-133 5 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to an improvedapparatus for immobilizing the elbow joint of a human being tofacilitate intravenous administration of food, blood, or other fluids.In particular, the invention relates to an improved apparatus capable ofconvenient use on the arms of women as well as men.

For many years, it has been a common hospital practice to inject fluidsdirectly into the circulatory system of the patient by insertion of aneedle into one of the veins extending through the patients arm.Typically, the large vein passing close to the surface of the arm at theelbow is used. However, this has been found to necessitate theimmobilization of the patients elbow joint since movement of the arm maycause the needle to penetrate the other side of the vein with resultantinfiltration of fluid into the arm outside the vein. This causesdiscomfort to the patient as a result of the pressure of the fluidwithin the tissues and in addition, necessitates restarting of theintravenous administration, since, in general, the desired medicalresult can only be achieved by direct injection into the vein.

In the past, it has been a common practice to immobilize the elbow jointof the patient 'by securing his arm, with the dorsal side against aboard extending from approximately the knuckles of the hand to above theelbow. The board is usually secured to the patients arm by winding gauzeor adhesive tape around the palm and the board at one end, and aroundthe upper arm and the board at the other end. Unfortunately, such atechnique has been found to possess a number of serious short-comings.

First, the arm boards appear to render the patient quite uncomfortable.Intravenous administration may commonly last for as much as four or fivehours, and is often applied several times a day, resulting in a tendencyof the patient to try to move his arm due to discomfort from longimmobilization. Taping of the arm to the board does not appear tosufficiently immobilize it so that the patient is often able to achieveenough'movement to cause the needle to penetrate the opposite side ofthe vein with the undesirable results outlined above.

In addition, it is found that adhesive tape is often irritating to theskin of many people, and creates the problem of pulling arm hair uponremoval which may cause skin irritation or even a source of infection.The skin of certain people is found to be sensitive to common adhesivetape, in which case it is necessary to use hypoallergenic tape atconsiderably increased expense. Moreover, such tape does not overcomethe various problems of insuflicient immobilization and discomfort.

A further disadvantage of commonly used arm boards is the necessity ofmaintaining a comparatively large number of different size boards toaccommodate patients having arms of varying sizes. In addition, itisoften found diflicult and/or inconvenient to maintain sterility ofsuch arm boards.

Recently, however, vastly improved apparatus for immobilization of theelbow joint has been made available. Devices of this type are disclosedin US. Patent No. 3,196,870 of Carl A. Sprecher et al., patented July27, 1965, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Thelimb immobilizer there described providessubstantially completerestraint of the upper and lower arm whereby the elbow jointiscompletely immobilized. At the same time, the patented device eliminatesthe use of adhesive tape with its attendant disadvantages, yet providescomplete immobilization without the possibility of a tourniquet effectcutting off circulation in the arm of the patient.

Briefly, the patented arm immobilizer comprises a pair of extendedmembers of sufficient length to provide enough counter-leverage forpreventing a strong person from bending his arm with the deviceattached. The device is attached to the arm on its ventral side by apair of straps and a third strap intermediate the other two whichextends across the dorsal side of the arm at the elbow.

The patented immobilizer has been found to be very eflicient inpreventing the arm from being moved while at the same time it has provedto be most comfortable even during extended periods of use.

After considerable use of the above described patented arm immobilizer,by hospitals throughout the country, it has gained substantialacceptance. However, the universal utility of the patented armimmobilizer for women has been found somewhat limited by the fact thatthe bone structure of the female arm is different from that of the malearm.

- In particular, examination and comparison of the arms of male andfemale persons will show that in the case of males, the bones of thelower and upper arm extend in a generally straight line from the upperarm, through the elbowjoint, to the lower arm. In contrast, the femalearm is found to bend outward at the elbow joint whereby the upper andlower arms are disposed at an angle with respect to each other. Thisangle, the so-called carrying angle, is typically eight to ten degreesor more (i.e. an outward bend of the lower arm of 8-10 In extreme cases,the carrying angle may approach as high as 15 '-2O". With the abovedescribed patented arm immobilizer, use on female patients requiresbending of the above described extended bars to the appropriate angle toaccommodate the carrying angle of the individual patients arm. This hasbeen found to be somewhat inconvient, since the bars must be formed frommoderately strong stock material in order to assure immobilization, withresulting diflioulty in bending. In addition repeated bending of thedevice to accommodate different patients mayresult in breakage of thebars due to fatigue and work hardening. In addition, after repeatedbending, difiiculty may be encountered in completely straightening thebars in order to permit use on a male patient. (In extreme casescarrying angles of 35 are found in male patients but this has caused nodifiiculty or limited use of the patented immobilizer.)

In contrast to the above, the improved arm immobilizer of thepresentinvention is adjustably constructed to permit convenient adaptation to asubstantially zero degree or at most 35 carrying angle for malepatients, as well as to carrying angles as much as 15-20, such as areencountered in extreme cases with female patients. The present inventioncomprises a pair of longitudinally extended support members, connectedby upper and lower cross straps adapted to extend over the ventral sideof the patients arm, and a central, widened strap adapted to extendacross the elbow joint on the dorsal side of the arm, as in the case ofthe previously described patented arm immobilizer. In addition, however,the apparatus of the present invention includes a pair of adjustableside bars attached to the main support members by which the portion ofthe device intended to support the lower arm may effectively be adjustedso that the portions of the device which actually bear on the arm of thepatient are disposed in substantially parallel relationship with the armboth above and below the elbow. The apparatus includes suitableadjusting means by which the side bars may be rapidly and convenientlypositioned at any of the angles which may be encountered during the useof the device including a zero carrying angle for male patients, as wellas all other angles up to a maximum of about 15 -20 encountered infemale patients.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved device for immobilizing the elbow joint of a patient duringintravenous administration of fluids.

It is a related object of this invention to provide an improved elbowjoint immobilizer which is conveniently adaptable for use with both maleand female patients.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improvedimmobilizer for human limbs which will provide substantially positiveimmobilization of the limbs of both male and female patients.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a limbimmobilizer for use in intravenous administration of fluids which isconveniently adjustable to accommodate the range of carrying anglesgenerally associated with female patients.

It is a related object of this invention to provide a limb immobilizeras described above which is adjustable to accommodate the substantiallyzero carrying angle of male patients as well as the range of carryingangles typically encountered in female patients.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an arm immobilizerfor intravenous administration of fluids adaptable to accommodatecarrying angles varying from approximately zero to approximately 20.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a limb immobilizercomprising a pair of generally parallel extended members adapted to beattached to the arm of the patient above, below and at the elbow, andincluding means to adjust the effective angular disposition of one ofeach of the members with respect to the other end.

It is a related object of this invention to provide a limb immobilizeras described above including a pair of adjustable side members attachedto the aforesaid extended members adjustable so that the portions whichbear against the arm of the wearer may be positioned in substantiallyparallel relationship to the arm.

It is a related object of this invention to provide an arm immobilizerin which the angle between the side members and the extended members isadjustable to accommodate variations in the carrying angle of the armsof male and female patients.

The exact nature of the present invention, as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will become apparent from consideration of thefollowing detailed description, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view showing an embodiment of the improved armimmobilizer of the present invention in position on the arm of a femalepatient;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the improved limb immobilizer shown in FIGURE1, but in position on the arm of a male patient;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the embodiment of the improved limbimmobilizer shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of an arm and attached '4 limb immobilizertaken along the line 44 of FIGURE '3, and showing the manner in whichthe apparatus is attached to the patients arm;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view, partially in section, of the adjustingapparatus shown in FIGURES 1-3;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the adjusting apparatus shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view, partially in section taken along thelines 77 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are perspective views showing the details of theconstruction of portions of the adjusting apparatus shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 10 is a side elevation, partially in section, of a modifiedembodiment of the adjusting apparatus shown in FIGURES 1-9;

FIGURES 11 and 12 are perspective views of portions of the modifiedembodiment shown in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevation of a further modification of the apparatusshown in FIGURES 1-9; and

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary, partially sectional view showing the detailsof a portion of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 13.

With reference now to FIGURE 1, a first embodiment of the armimmobilizer of the present invention, generally denoted at 10 is shownin position on the arm 12 of a female patient. (It will be understoodthat the views shown in FIGURES l and 2 are representative of the rightarm of a patient, when viewed from above, extended outward with theventral or palm side facing the viewer.) The apparatus includes a pairof longitudinally extended support members 14 and 16, and upper strap18, a lower strap 20, and a central strap 22, interconnecting extendedmembers 14 and 16.

As clearly shown in FIGURE 1, the anatomy of the female arm is such thatthe upper arm 24 and the lower arm 26 do not lie in a straight line whenthe arm is extended. In particular, a line 28 represenative of thelongitudinal axis of upper arm 24 and a corresponding line 30representative of the longitudinal axis of the lower arm 26 are seen tobe disposed at some angle C, with respect to each other. This angle,denoted above as the carrying angle, is typically 810 but may be as highas 15 20 in extreme cases. In contrast, FIGURE 2, shows the armimmobilizer 10 attached to the arm 12' of a male patient. Here, it maybe seen that the relationship of the upper arm 24' and the lower arm 26"is such that a single substantially straight line 32 is representativeof the longitudinal axis of the entire male arm.

The arm immobilizer previously described, subject of Sprecher et al. US.Patent No. 3,196,870 is comprised basically of a pair of longitudinalextended members similar to 14 and 16 in FIGURE 1, and three crossstraps similar to straps 18, 20 and 22, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Thepatented arm immobilizer has proved to be extremely convenient andadvantageous for use on the arms of male patients such as shown inFIGURE 2, since attachment merely requires adjustment, if necessary, ofthe straps corresponding to straps 18 and 20 in FIGURES l and 2, andattachment of large central strap 22 across the elbow joint itself.Since the male arm is substantially straight, the extended bars similarto 14 and 16 and the counter-balancing forces provided by the upperstraps corresponding to 18 and 20 and the lower strap corresponding tostrap 22, provide all the immobilization necessary for satisfactoryintravenous administration.

However, difficulty may be encountered in use of the patented armimmobilizer, including only the two longitudinal extended members, whenthe value of the angle C, is substantially different from 0, as in thecase of female patients. This difficulty can be minimized by bending theextended members to conform to the contour of the patients arm, but, asoutlined above, this also entails inconvenience and/ or difliculty inmany instances.

On the other hand, the construction of the present invention overcomesthis difficulty in a convenient, effective,

and economical manner by providing an adjustable arm immobilizer capableof ready adaptation for use on both male and female patients. Inparticular, the improved apparatus of the present invention as shown inFIGURES 1 and 2 includes an additional pair of adjustable side members34 and 36 cooperating with support members 14 and 16 respectively, asdescribed in detail in connection with FIGURES 5-9. An adjustingmechanism 38 which comprises a threaded rotatable collar 40 mounted onsupport member 14, and a slidable threaded shaft 42 is pivotallyconnected to plate 34 to permit the latter to be angularly adjustedrelative to support member 14 whereby it will lie parallel tolongitudinal axis 30 of the lower arm 26. A similar adjusting mechanism44 is adapted to cooperate with support member 16 and adjustable sideplate 36- so that this plate also may be disposed in parallelrelationship to axis 30 of lower arm 26.

As shown, support members 14 and 16 include outwardly curved portions 46whereby a recess 47 is provided on the inner surfaces of the members,which serve to receive an upstanding loop portion of side plates 34 and36 when the apparatus is to be used for male patients or with femalearms exhibiting small values of C i.e. with side plates 34 and 36substantially in retracted position.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show in detail the manner in which arm immobilizer isassembled and attached to the arm of the patient. As may be seen,longitudinal support bars 14 and 16 (the latter being shown in FIGURE 3)are provided at their ends with a pair of slots 48 through which arethreaded the upper and lower cross straps 18 and 20. Attached to thecross straps are conventional buckles 50 which permit adjustment of theeffective transverse distance between the support members 14 and 16 forconvenient use of the arm immobilizer on patients having arms of varyingsizes. As shown in FIGURES 2-4, one end 52 of strap 18, e.g. thatpassing through slot 48 in bar 14 is secured to the main portion of thestrap by means of a rivet 54 while the other end 56 of strap 18, afterpassing throughbuckle 50, is attached, by means of rivet 57 to the mainportion of strap 18. While other types of adjustable strap and bucklearrangements may be used, the construction shown in FIGURE 4 ispreferred since it prevents the accidental disassembly of armimmobilizer 10 during adjustment.

As shown in FIGURES l and 2, each of longitudinal support bars 14 and 16is bent outwardly intermediate its ends at 58 to form a central sectionparallel but outwardly spaced from the main portions of support bars 14and 16. As shown in FIGURES 1-3, central strap 22 is considerably widerthan upper and lower straps 18 and 20, and is secured at one end 60 inany convenient fashion to central portion 58 of support bar 16. Theouter side 62 of strap 22 is provided with a securing means comprising afirst section of a material known as Velcro plus another section ofOpposing Velcro, a material commerically available from the VelcroCorporation (selling agent), 681 5th Ave., New York, NY. This materialis well known as a fastener, the Velcro portion being comprised of alarge number of tiny eyelets extending outward from a base sheet, whilethe portion known as Opposing Velcro comprising a large number of verysmall hook-like projections adapted to engage with the loops or eleyetson the Velcro portion of the material.

In use, upper and lower straps 18 and are suitably adjusted toaccommodate the size of the patients arm, and the apparatus is placedacross the arm onthe ventral side. Adjusting means 38 and 44 arepositioned to permit proper angular disposition of side plates 34 and 36for the arm of the particular patient, as explained below, and the backsurface 64 of Velcro strap 22 is placed across the dorsal side of theelbow joint and the end 66 brought up through the space 68 between thecentral portion 58 of bar 14 and arm 12. Sufiicient tension is placed onstrap 22 to fully immobilize the arm, and the free end 68 is pressedalong the main body of the strap 22 toengage the Velcro and OpposingVelcro portions of the strap. Thus, by the simple operation of adjustingupper and lower straps 18 and 20, if necessary, and positioningadjusting means 38 and 44 to permit plates 34 and 36 to conform to thecontour of the arm, a highly effective, and convenient immobilization ofthe arm of either a male or female patient is assured.

Upper and lower cross straps 18 and 20, which may comprise any suitableplastic material are made as narrow as possible so that access to amaximum portion of the anm is available. Thus, substantially the entirevein is available for intravenous administration, e.g., should multiplesimultaneous administration be necesary or to prevent toughening of thevein in the area of the elbow joint due to repeated punctures. Strap 22is preferably of substantially greater width than straps 18 and 20 sothat it covers a substantial portion of the dorsal surface of the elbowjoint, thereby assuring a high degree of immobilization. For example, ina typical arm immobilizer such as described above, the entire length ofthe apparatus is preferably between 10 and 12 inches, support members 14and 16 are formed from /2-inch by /s-inch steel or aluminum bars, andupper and lower straps 18 and 20 may be approximately inch in width.Under such conditions, it is found that Velcro strap 22 is perferablyapproximately two inches in width.

With reference now to FIGURES 1 and 59, the details of adjusting means38 for side plate 34 will be described, it being understood thatidentical adjusting means 44 is provided for side plate 36. As may beseen, side plate 34 includes an upstanding loop portion 70 which may bestamped or otherwise raised from the body of the plate itself. Alongitudinal slot 72 is formed in loop 70 to receive the lower end 71 ofthreaded shaft 42 (see FIGURE 1). Shaft 42 is pivotally attached toplate 34 by means of a pin 74 extending through a suitable aperture inthe lower end 71 of shaft 42. Pin 74 includes enlarged end portions 76to prevent shaft 42 and side plate 70 from becoming separated as shownin FIGURE 6. Slot 72 is larger than the end of shaft 42 to permit plate34 to pivot the full required angular distance as described below.

As shown in FIGURES 5 and 6, the upper portion 78 of pin 42 is threadedbut includes one flat surface 80 which may be provided, for example, bymilling the pin after it has been threaded. As will be understood, shaft42 extends through an aperture 82 in support member 14. The shape ofaperture 82 as shown in FIGURE 9 is generally circular but includes anon-circular portion 84 adapted to cooperate with the flat 80 onthreaded shaft 42. Aperture 82 is of substantially the same dimensionsas shaft 42 so that non-circular portion 84 closely engages with flat'80 on shaft 42, whereby the latter is prevented from rotating inaperture 82. In other words, shaft 42 is constrained to slide up anddown whereby to extend side plate 34 away from support member 14, underthe influence of adjusting collar 40, as now described.

In order to provide for adjustment of shaft 42, the threaded collar 40is mounted on curved portion 46 of support member 14 in alignment withaperture 82. Collar 40 includes an annular groove 86 adapted to receivea bifurcated retaining bracket 88 shown in FIGURE 8. Bracket 88 includesan arcuate slot 90 having approximately the same radius of curvature asannular groove 86 so that when one or more retaining brackets 88 aremounted on support member 14, as by spot or tack welding, collar 40 isfirmly supported but free to rotate. Thus, since shaft 42 is restrainedagainst rotation by fiat 80 and cooperating non-circular portion 84 ofapeture 82, collar 40 serves to extend or retract shaft 42 threadedlyengaged with it.

As may be seen in FIGURE 5, pin 42 is sufficiently short so as not toextend beyond the upper surface 92 of collar 40 even when side plate 34is drawn tightly within recess 47. This avoids the possibility of shaft42 becoming snagged on the skin or clothing of the patient. In addition,collar 40 and shaft 42' may be so constructed as to prevent the latterfrom becoming fully unthreaded with resulting separation of supportmember 14 and side member 34. For example, this may be accomplished byinserting a pin 91 (see FIGURE 9) through support member 14 and througha narrow slot 93 extending through shaft 42, so that the vertical travelof the latter is limited.

In order to accommodate the variations in carrying angle which may beencountered, shaft 42 must be of sufiicient length to permit angularadjustment of side member 34, in either direction (as indicated by thearrow in FIGURE The necessary length of shaft 42 depends in part uponthe longitudinal extent of side plates 34 and also, of course, upon theanatomy of the arm. In one operative embodiment, it is found that asuitable length for plate 34 is approximately 2 /2 to 3 inches. Underthese conditions, it is found that shaft 42 must possess a sufficientlylong threaded portion to permit extension thereof approximately 0.5 inchor more.

FIGURES -12 show a modified embodiment of the adjusting mechanismdescribed above. Here, side member 34' is attached to support member 14by means of a pair of extended pins 94 (only one of which is shown inFIGURE 10) extending through an aperture 96 in support member 14, and asimilar aperture in side mem ber 34'. Pin 94 is pivotally retainedwithin aperture 98 by means of a rivet 100 extending transverselythrough side member 34 and pin 94. A small compressible spring 102 ispositioned on pin 94 and retained by an enlarged head portion 104. Inits normal position, spring 102 is extended whereby side member 34' isdrawn closely against support member 14'. This permits convenient use ofthe apparatus with male patients, i.e., use of arms exhibiting smallvalues of the angle C,,.

In order to permit adjustment of the angular disposition of side member34 with respect to support member 14', there is provided a slidablewedge 106 positioned on side member 34, and received in a recess 107formed by suitably bending support member 14. As shown in FIG- URE 11,adjusting wedge 106 is preferably an elongated cylindrical member havinga round, or if desired, eliptical cross-section. An elongated slot 108in support member 14' (see FIGURE 12) receives an upstanding stud 110secured in any suitable manner to adjusting wedge 106. Stud 110 servesas a guide and also to retain adjusting wedge 106 between members 14'and 34'. For this latter purpose, a small pin 112 is preferably attachedto stud 110 as shown in FIGURE 11.

With further reference to FIGURE 11, it may be seen that a recess orgroove 114 on the under-surface 116 of Wedge 106 serves to further guideand retain the adjusting wedge between members 14' and 34. The width anddepth of groove 114 is such as to permit wedge 106 to travel easilyalong side member 34 within the confines of elongated slot 108. Topermit convenient positioning of wedge 106, the ends 118 may eachinclude a small depression 120 for receiving the thumb and forefinger ofthe user.

The precise configuration and dimensions of the various portions will bedetermined in part by the maximum carrying angle which must beaccommodated. For example, if side member 34" is formed from /2-inch by/s-inch bar stock of approximately 3 inch length, pins 94 are preferablyspaced approximately 2% inches apart, with slot 108, centered betweenpins 94 being approximately 2 inches in length.

In use, wedge 106 is positioned as desired in slot 108, causing member34" to be extended against the force of spring 102, at the proper anglefor the patients arm. Then, the cross straps 18, and 22 are attached aspreviously described to assure immobilization of the arm.

A third embodiment of the adjusting mechanism described above is shownin FIGURES 13 and 14. Here, a support member 14" is connected to a sidemember 34" by means of a pair of adjusting screws 122. As shown inFIGURE 14, adjusting screws 122 each pass through a threaded aperture124 in support member 14, which aperture is somewhat oversized withrespect to the adjusting screw in order to permit a certain amount ofplay of screw 122 when the apparatus is adjusted. The lower end 126 ofadjusting screw 122 is positioned within a retaining cavity 128 in sidemember 34 which may be formed, for example, by slightly upsetting theupper and lower surfaces 130 and 132 of side member 34" around anaperture 134 which adjusting screw 122 is positioned in the aperture.The lower end 126 of screw 122 is then swaged to expand the same withinretaining cavity 128 as shown in FIGURE 14. As will be understood theworking of side member 34 and screw 122 is sufficient to assureretention of the screw within cavity 128 but at the same time, screw end126 is not expanded sufficiently to prevent plate 34" from freelypivoting to assume the required angular orientation such as shown inoutline in FIGURE 13.

As in the above described embodiments, the location of adjusting screws122 and the dimensions of the various portions of the device must beselected in order to provide sufiicient angular displacement of sidemember 34 to accommodate the variations in carrying angle normallyencountered. For example, again assuming the use of a side member 34",formed from /2 by /s-inch bar stock, and three inches in length,adjusting screws 122, are preferably separated by a distance of 2 to 2%inches.

All of the above described embodiments are found conveniently toovercome the difiiculties attendant in the use of the above describedarm boards for elbow immobilization, and considerably to extend theutility of the above mentioned patented arm immobilizer for convenientuse with female patients whose arms exhibit wide ranges of carryingangle C The present apparatus provides substantially completeimmobilization yet is comfortable, even during extended use. It iseconomical and simple to manufacture and provides the added advantagethat it may readily be sterilized according to common hospitaltechniques. An additional advantage of the embodiments described inconnection with FIGURES 5-9, and 13-14 is that in addition to angularadjustment described above, extension of side bars 34 and 34" away fromsupport members 14' and 14 will effectively narrow the distance betweenthe support members without the necessity of separately adjusting crossstraps 18 and 20. Of course, by eliminating the necessity that supportmembers 14 and 16 be bent to accommodate the arms of female patients,the attendant difiiculties and possibility of breakage due to metalfatigue are eliminated.

While three particular embodiments have been described above, it shouldbe recognized that substantial further modification in accordance withthe above teachings may well be apparent to one skilled in the art. Forexample, with regard to the embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, a variety oftechniques is contemplated by which threaded shaft 42 may be piovtallysecured to side member 34. Again with regard to FIGURE 10, it will beunderstood that the connecting link provided by pins 94 may be readilymodified if desired. Also, if desired, the side members may be used onthe upper rather than the lower arm as shown. Thus, the invention may beembodied in a variety of other forms without departing from the spiritor essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments should beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, thescope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims ratherthan by the foregoing description and all changes which come within themeaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended tobe embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by US. Letters Patent is:

1. A device for immobilizing a limb of a human being which is bendableat a joint and which limb may be characterized by substantial variationsfrom person to person in the angular relationship between portions ofthe limb disposed on opposite sides of the joint comprising: a pair ofelongated support members adapted to be positioned along the limb; firstand second strap means connected to both the support members and adaptedto overlie one side of the limb at spaced intervals above and below thebendable joint; third strap means connected to one of the supportmembers and adapted to overlie the opposite side of the limb in thevicinity of the joint, thereby providing a counter-balancing force toprevent the muscular power of the limb from moving the point; adjustablemeans for modifying the efiective angular relationship between theportions of the support members adjacent to first and second strapmeans, said adjustable means comprising a side member movably attachedto each support member adjacent to said first means, and adapted to liein substantially parallel relationship with the support member when theportions of the limb on opposite sides of the joint are substantiallycolinear and in angular relationship to the support member when theportions of the limb on the opposite sides of the joint are notsubstantially in colinear relationship; threaded shaft means pivotallyattached to the side member and constrained to lateral movement; and athreaded collar rotatably mounted on the support member and adapted toengage with the threaded shaft means whereby rotation of the threadedcollar causes linear movement of the shaft means and the attached sidemember toward and away from the support means.

2. The limb immobilizer of claim 1 where the threaded shaft includes aflat portion whereby to define a generally D-shaped cross-section forthe shaft, and further including a generally D-shaped aperture in thesupport member adapted to receive the threaded shaft means and toprevent the same from rotating.

3. A limb immobilizer as in claim 2 further including means to limit thelateral movement of the threaded shaft means.

4. A device for immobilizing a limb of a human being which is bendableat a joint and which limb may be characterized by substantial variationsfrom person to person in the angular relationship between portions ofthe limb disposed on opposite sides of the joint comprising: a pair ofelongated support members adapted to be positioned along the limb; firstand second strap means connected to both of the support members andadapted to overlie one side of the limb at spaced intervals above andbelow the bendabel joint; a third strap means connected to one of thesupport members and adapted to overlie the opposite side of the limb inthe vicinity of the joint; thereby providing a counter-balancing forceto prevent the muscular power of the limb from moving the joint;adjustable means for modifying the effective angular relationshipbetween the portions of the support'members adjacent to first and secondstrap means, said adjustable means comprising a side member movablyattached to each support member adjacent to said first and strap means;and an adjusting mechanism for said side members comprising a pluralityof adjusting screws, each threadedly received in a respective aperturein said support members, the adjusting screws each being pivotallymounted in a socket means within the associated side member, saidapertures in the support member being slightly oversized relative to theadjusting screws to permit a small amount of play of the adjustingscrews therein, said socket means comprising a generally cylindricalaperture having a first diameter intermediate the ends thereof and asomewhat smaller diameter adjacent the ends.

5. A device for immobilizing the limb of a human being which is bendableat a joint and which limb may be characterized by substantial variationsfrom person to person in the angular relationship between portions ofthe limb disposed on opposite sides of the joint comprising: a pair ofelongated support members adapted to be positioned along the limb; firstand second strap means connected to both support members and adapted tooverlie one side of the limb at spaced intervals above and belowthebendable joint; a third strap means connected to one of the supportmembers and adapted to overlie the opposite side of the limb in thevicinity of the joint, thereby providing a counterbalancing force toprevent the muscular power of the limb from moving the joint; adjustablemeans for modifying the effective angular relationship between theportions of the support members adjacent to first and second strapmeans, said adjustable means comprising a side member movably attachedto each support member adjaceht to said first strap means; and anadjusting mechanism comprising a spring loaded pin pivotally attachingeach end of the side member to the respective support member, and wedgemeans slidingly disposed between each supporting member and therespective side member and adapted to be positioned at various distancesfrom the pin means, whereby the displacement of the wedge means from aposition intermediate the pin means causes varia tion in the angularrelationship between the side member and the support member, the sidemember and the support member being in substantially parallelrelationship when the wedge means is disposed intermediate the pinmeans.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 664,838 1/1901 Dean 119-127801,901 10/1905 Norwood 12887 1,709,046 4/ 1929 Throgmorton l281332,357,323 9/1944 Goldberg 12877 X 3,196,870 7/1965 Sprecher et al.128133 3,299,888 1/ 1967 Muckinhaupt 128-87 DALTON L. TRULUCK, PrimaryExaminer.

US. Cl. X.R.

3 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.,439,673 Dated April 22, 1969 Inventor(s) RL A. SPRECHER It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

' Column 2, line 56, "inconvient" should read inconvenient Column 3,line 50, after "one" insert end Column 5, line 63, "eleyets" should readeyelets Column 9, line 11, "point" should read joint Column 9, line 47,"bendabel" should read bendable Column 9, line 56, delete "and" (firstoccurrence).

SIGNED AND SEALED JAN 2 119m (SEAL) Atteat:

wmnml E. 'SOHUYLER, commissioner of Penn" MatingOfficer

